This invention relates to a holder for electronic remote controls of the type used with home entertainment devices.
Remote controls for home entertainment devices have become increasingly popular. Homes may have remote controls for the television, video cassette recorder, compact disc player, phonograph, AM/FM receiver, audio cassette player, and other home entertainment devices.
Although these remote controls offer a convenient means of controlling home entertainment devices, the remote controls themselves are frequently misplaced under cushions and magazines, on nearby tables, and even in other areas of the house. Because the user may have a number of remote controls, he/she may be unaware a remote control is missing until it is urgently needed. A holder is vital which will organize a large number of remote controls in a way which alerts the user if one or more remote controls are missing.
A number of devices have been used in the past to consolidate the growing number of remote controls. Prior art includes holders for remote controls which hold a small number of remote controls in a set framework. Although a quick visual inspection of these small holders alerts the user if one remote control is missing, the holder will not accommodate the large number of remote controls now owned by many households.
Other previous patents disclose holders for remote controls which are flexible to accommodate a large number of remote controls. However, the holders for large numbers of remote controls merely hold them together without any scheme to insure each remote control has its own location in the holder and which would allow the user to detect, at a glance, if any remote controls are missing.
So called "universal" remote controls have not alleviated the problem of multiple remotes due to complexity, cost, and incompatibility, especially on older units employing ultrasonic or radio frequency transmitters.
Because the number of home entertainment devices which employ remote controls has increased in recent years, users must have a way to easily organize a large number of remote controls which permits quick visual inspection to determine which remote controls are in the holder and which ones are missing.